


what comes after the end?

by Dylanobrienisbatman



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt, F/M, Found Family, Gen, Hugging, POV Luke, Past Character Death, first touch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:47:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27667697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dylanobrienisbatman/pseuds/Dylanobrienisbatman
Summary: The show at the Orpheum is over, but Luke, Alex, and Reggie are still there. What happens next?Or: Luke POV from after the show at the Orpheum.
Relationships: Alex & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Alex & Luke Patterson & Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 6
Kudos: 84





	what comes after the end?

Luke’s ears were ringing, the last note still echoing in his head as he looked at Julie. Her face was a mask, some mix of grief and joy that he was sure he was mirroring right back to her. He felt Alex grab his hand, and he held tight. Reggie made eye contact with him above Julie’s head and he felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes. 

He looked out over the crowd, this crowd full of screaming, joyful people. Screaming for him. For them. He held on a little tighter to Alex, gripping the neck of his guitar so hard he felt the strings cutting into his palm. 

He wished he could hold Julie’s hand. Just this once, right at the end. 

They lifted their arms into the air together, and he felt his smile deep in his cheeks, an ache that he never wanted to end. The reminder of the joy of this moment. The ache to match the grief and regret about his mom. The feeling that… even if it wasn’t worth it, it finally meant something. 

The joy of being reminded that this was his dream, and it was right within his reach. 

They had played the Orpheum, as a band. They had finally made it to this moment, 25 years and some stumbling blocks later. He wished that they could somehow just live in this single moment together for eternity. 

Instead, he felt Alex tugging him down into a bow, and he squeezed his eyes shut, not ready, never ready, for what came next.

But what came next was… nothing. 

They didn’t cross over. They didn’t poof out of existence, or burn up on their way… down there. 

They popped off of the stage and landed hard on the ground in the alley behind the Orpheum, instantly rocked hard by the worst jolt yet. 

“I guess that wasn’t our unfinished business.” Reggie groaned, curling in on himself before standing up. 

Alex let out a cough that probably would have been “ya think” if he had been able to speak. 

They made their way back to standing, and Luke’s eyes were drawn to the marquee. 

***JULIE AND THE PHANTOMS***

For a moment, the world was still around him. 

He had no idea what came next. 

He turned, and found his brothers, his family, staring up at the same marquee. 

This once bittersweet night felt acrid in his mouth now. 

_Julie_. 

Reggie sniffed, and Alex rolled his eyes, mouthing something that seemed like an “emotional one”, and Luke couldn’t help but smile. 

He grabbed both of their hands, and for a moment he tried to forget the fear creeping into his chest.

“Boys, we did it.” He was somber, and quiet, but they both squeezed his hand tight. 

They stood there a moment together, and Luke thought back to the last time they stood in this spot together. 

_It’s like an energy, it connects us with people… they can feel us when we play._

_I want that connection with everybody._

He still did. 

“We were gonna be legends, weren’t we?” He felt the tears creeping into his eyes now, and he let his lip quiver, refusing the urge to pull himself back together. 

“We were gonna be something.” He repeated, quieter this time.

“Yeah,” Alex sighed, slinging his arm over Luke’s back and grabbing Reggie’s shoulder, “I really think we were.”

They stood quiet for a moment before Reggie pulled them together for a hug, the pale light from the marquee bathing over them as they held each other tight for just a moment. 

“We should go back to the garage.” Reggie suggested, right before another jolt hit them hard. So hard Alex nearly crashed to the ground, before Luke and Reggie caught him. 

“Julie will go back there, she shouldn’t see this. She should think we crossed over.” 

“Nah, she already thinks we did, she has no reason too.”

“Yeah, I think Luke’s is right, like… she’ll want to be with her family anyway?” 

“Would you go, if you were her?” The question felt hard, and Julie’s smile flashed before his eyes, for the 1000th time that night. 

Yes, he thought, he would. 

But they had nowhere else to go. 

Where else could they go, for this. 

They crashed into the floor again, unable to control their jumps anymore. They were all still holding hands, and Luke twisted himself to lay flat on his back, refusing to break the link. 

They lay there in the dark, and Luke felt a tear finally break loose and slide down his temple, pooling in the crook of his ear. He took a sharp breath, and squeezed his brothers’ hands. 

“What do you think it’s gonna feel like?” Alex asked, and Luke wished he knew. He could hear it in Alex’s voice, the anxiety and fear. If Luke was afraid, Alex was freaking out. If he knew, maybe Alex wouldn’t be so afraid. 

Maybe they would all be less afraid. 

Reggie started to speak, but a horrible jolt smashed through their chests, and they all were left gasping for breath. 

At least we’re here together. He knew that’s what Reggie was going to say. It’s what Reggie always said. 

He was glad for it, especially now. 

He died, he thought briefly. He had been so afraid in those moments. He had wanted nothing more than to go back in time, and stay back with his mom, while at the same time grieving the loss of his dream. As the ambulance had driven them away he remembered the blurring blue sign… THE ORPHEUM… shrinking in the distance. And then he had died. 

It was horrible, until he opened his eyes in that dark room, and his brothers were sitting beside him. 

It was horrible, until Julie had played their CD, and they had jumped together back into the world. 

It was terrible, but it had somehow turned into something remarkable. With Julie, they had found themselves again, and had gotten a second chance. 

None of that would have mattered without Alex and Reggie to share it with. 

“I love you guys.” He said shakily, still reeling from the jolt even after a few minutes. 

“Me too.” Reggie said, and Luke could hear it in his voice too. 

Alex just sniffled and squeezed Luke’s hand tighter. He squeezed Reggie’s to pass along the message. 

They heard Julie’s car drive up, a little while later, and Luke’s heart was in his throat all over again. 

_Julie_. 

The memory of a few days before passed across his mind. 

_“I know how hard it is when you want to speak to someone you love, and can’t.”_

Her voice was sweet in his ear, a gentle voice lending itself to a staggering kindness that Luke could never have repaid in a thousand years. 

The little piece of paper in her hand meant more to him than anything else. The things he could never say to his mom, written down and somehow still here, 25 years later. 

And a girl.

The girl. 

The one he would have introduced to his mom back then, the one he would have told her all about because he wouldn’t have been able to keep it inside. 

The girl he had mentioned to deaf ears only a day or so before that moment. 

A girl, filled with staggering kindness, had given him the chance, in a way, to tell his mom that he loved her, that he had always loved her. 

_Julie_. 

He heard her singing with her dad, little snippets of stand tall, her voice melodic as her dad and brother mostly yelled off key. 

His mind drifted back, to nights spent cross legged on her bedroom floor, his head propped against her bed as they wrote. 

He hadn’t told her about the songs dancing through his head that were about her. 

And then, the door opened. 

_Julie_. 

She walked in, slowly, stopping and taking a breath. 

“I- I know I already said this but uhh.... Thank you guys.” 

For a split second, he held his breath, before Reggie opened his mouth. 

“You’re welcome.” 

ALex groaned loudly and Luke thrust his leg towards Reggie weakly in a failed attempt at kicking him. 

“Dude.” 

Julie gasped, and went for the lights, revealing them on the ground. 

“Why- Why are you here, I thought? I thought you crossed over, why didn’t you cross over?” 

“I guess playing the Orpheum wasn’t our unfinished business,” Alex groaned. 

“Point Caleb.” 

“We wanted you to think that we had crossed over, so we pretended too.” He finally blurted out, his voice thick with his tears. 

Julie’s face fell, a sadness unimaginable passing behind her eyes. 

“We just-” He looked down, away from her, trying to keep himself from crying as the words came tumbling out. “We had nowhere else to go.” He let out a gasp of air. 

“We thought you’d go straight to bed.” 

Annoyed, Alex spoke up.

“Well, I knew she was going to come out here, but no one ever listens to meE” His voice skyrocketed as they were hit by another jolt, somehow even worse than the last. 

Julie was in panic, and Luke just wanted to evaporate, but he also needed this moment to see her again. Making her sad was horrible, but he let himself be selfish, this one last time. 

“You have to save yourself right now! Go join Caleb’s club. Please!” Her voice was frantic, and Luke felt his chest tearing apart at the sound. “It’s better than not existing at all! Please just go, Go! Poof out, please do something. Please, do it for me.” 

“We’re not going back there.” Reggie said, firm. They hadn’t even spoken about it, but they had known, instinctively. It was never a question. 

Luke legs were carrying him towards Julie almost of their own volition. 

“No music is worth making, Julie, if we aren’t making it with you.” The words came from somewhere deep in his chest, and he hadn’t realised, not really, how much he meant them until he said it out loud. 

She was their spark. 

“No regrets.” He whispered, and her eyes softened. 

_“I don’t have many regrets…”_

Like they were magnets, they collided, her arms coming around his neck the same moment as his wrapped around her. He lifted her in the air, just a tiny bit, until she was balanced on her toes to reach him. 

He buried his face into her thick, gorgeous curls, a cloud of a soft coconut scent wrapping around him as he clung to her. 

Clung… to her. 

Her tiny gasp from where her face was tucked against his shoulder made him sure that it was really happening. 

She pulled back, and he let his hands stay on her, following her as she went. 

Touching her… 

“How can I feel you?” She echoed the thoughts in his brain perfectly, reaching up to cup his face in her hands. 

He mirrored her, letting his fingers thread into her soft curls, his thumbs brush against her cheeks gently. 

He slid his hands down just a little, brushing her jaw gently before reaching for her hands. 

He felt… lighter… like he could breathe again. He stood up taller, pulling her hands in close, holding them to his chest. He turned, never letting go of her. 

“I feel stronger” He said, and Alex and Reggie finally seemed to catch up with what was happening. 

“Alex, Reggie, come!” She beckoned them over. 

For one last second, he savoured it. He could hold Julie’s hand. He could hug Julie… He could.. He could touch her. Somehow, against all impossible odds, he could _touch_ Julie. He clung to her hands for the last breath before welcoming the boys into the fold.

Her arms found his again around their backs, her fingers brushing against his forearms just a little as they moved into a hug. 

The boys were saying something, but all he could do was stare at Julie. 

His arm burned a little, and he looked down in time to watch the purple stamp from Caleb become wispy little fragments and float away. 

He felt stronger still. 

“What do you think that means?” Julie asked, and he had a million ways to say what he felt running through his mind, instead he just smiled at her. Another time, on another day, he might say it. “I think the band’s back,” he said with a soft laugh, never breaking eye contact with Julie. 

Alex pulled them back into a hug, and Julie’s hands found his forearms again. 

They broke apart, and she smiled so bright he was blinded by it. 

They pulled back in for another hug, and he reached for her hand, holding it behind Alex’s back as they jumped and cheered together. 

Another time, on another day, he’d tell her. 

But this moment, it wasn’t just for him, or even just for him and Julie. 

This moment was for all of them, because playing the Orpheum was about to change their lives.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first JATP fic, hope you liked it!


End file.
